Robert Carsouw (financial chief of Royal Schiphol Group) and Michael Arntzen (head of the Schiphol noise team) recently paid a visit to The Hague. There, they talked to members of the House of Representatives about the package of noise measures presented by the cabinet as part of the Balanced Approach. Keep on reading to find out more.
On 6 December, Minister Madlener (Infrastructure & Water Management) presented a new package of measures as part of the Balanced Approach procedure. This package contains measures to reduce noise nuisance for Schiphol's neighbours by 15 percent by 1 November 2025 and by another 5 percent later on.
At the end of January, Robert Carsouw and Michael Arntzen went to the House of Representatives on behalf of Schiphol. During discussions with members of parliament they were given the chance, along with Marjan Rintel and Seth Straten (CEO and vice president Mainport Strategy KLM) to explain Schiphol's perspective on the Balanced Approach (BA) measures.
In his remarks, Robert emphasised the importance that Schiphol attaches to a good balance with the living environment. The urgency of this is evident from the ruling in the RVB case last year, when the court ruled that the airport should get an Airport Traffic Decree (LVB) as soon as possible. We are continually working on a quieter Schiphol, and the BA is an important development to that end. Schiphol has been taking measures to reduce noise nuisance since the beginning of the century. These include opening the Polderbaan Runway, preferential runway usage and investing in the insulation of homes. This has led to a significant decrease in the number of seriously inconvenienced residents, and we will continue to pursue this.
Robert also stressed that Schiphol is taking an important next step towards less noise nuisance with the introduction of new airport charges. 'We are encouraging airlines to deploy their quietest aircraft when flying to Schiphol, night flights will be up to six times more expensive than daytime ones and the noisiest planes will be barred altogether. We anticipate that partly because of this, we will easily meet the noise reduction target of 15 per cent by November 2025 and may even reach 17 per cent.' In addition, the government wants fewer night flights and to lower the maximum number of aircraft movements to 478,000, and airlines such as KLM are committed to renewing their fleet.
Robert concluded his address by calling on the House of Representatives and government to work together with Schiphol and the sector on the implementation of the BA package. Because that is the only way we can lay the foundation for a new Airport Traffic Decree and ensure legal certainty and clarity for everyone.
Do you want to watch the talks? You can find the video recording here.